Any of you stock traders notice this recently? Lots and lots of 100 shares being traded with the spreads wider than usual and in many cases already away from last prices by several cents. It seems many stocks are being manipulated up/down with very little volume. Not a trader-friendly market at all.
It's a Summer Friday in NYC and it looks like a lot of specialists have left for a 3-day weekend, handing their "book" over to junior assistants with instructions to NOT get "involved" in order flow. There were some very large-cap stocks that were down over 2 points on a little over 200,000 shares this morning. Absurd.
The specialist is playing less of a role thanks to the new Hybrid model. Its especialy aparent in light volume markets. Keep an eye on the Luqidity Replenishment Points. Basically that is how wide the market can get before the specialist will get involved. Prior to Hybrid, specialist would not let the market get as wide as it does today. This is what I think about the subject. Have fun trading, Greg